


Happiness is Next to You

by this_is_not_nothing



Category: Schitt's Creek (TV) RPF
Genre: And love, Kissing, M/M, come for brunch, stay for dinner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:14:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25669501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/this_is_not_nothing/pseuds/this_is_not_nothing
Summary: Dan hosts a brunch and Noah stays til the end.MissGee noticed Dan has a framed fortune in the Vogue video and here we are.
Relationships: Dan Levy/Noah Reid
Comments: 28
Kudos: 71





	Happiness is Next to You

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [thegrayness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegrayness/pseuds/thegrayness) and [popfly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/popfly) for the validation and encouragement and copious hand-holding and Gray for the beta as always✨

The doorbell rings, and Dan has a sudden strong wish that it’s Noah—here first, before everyone else. He hasn’t seen Noah since they wrapped season five, since he carried Noah up a mountain, since Noah executed a series of hip thrusts that made Dan’s imagination run wild, since Noah pulled him in for an impromptu, intimately familiar kiss while they were filming in the dressing room. He opens the door.

It’s Stacey. Of  _ course  _ it’s Stacey. The whole brunch was her idea, a way for her to see as many people as possible while she was here in Toronto for a family wedding. What was he thinking, of course it’s not Noah. He pulls her in for a hug, tucking her into his arms.

“Thanks for doing this. I know it’s a weird assortment of people to have at your place.” Stacey thanks him, and takes over, spying to prosecco Dan had just opened and making them mimosa.

Dan shrugs. Being close with Stacey is a good litmus test for people he’d want in his apartment. “It’ll be good to see everyone, I feel like all I do lately is spend time in a dark room editing.”

“How’s it looking?” Stacey asks, handing him a drink. 

“It’s looking really good. The _ Cabaret _ performance is… Honestly, I can’t even believe how talented everyone is.”

“Everyone?” Stacey’s looking at him, weirdly calculated. “Like Noah?”

Dan tries to keep his face neutral. “Like  _ everyone.  _ Emily was incredible, too.”

Stacey laughs and clinks her glass against Dan’s. “Okay, Danny Jo.”

“We are  _ not  _ doing that in mixed company,” Dan warns. He does not need  _ anyone _ latching on  _ that  _ particular nickname.

“Okay,  _ Daniel. _ What’s the menu?”

“I got bagels and lox and a bunch of quiches.” Ever since Annie brought over the bucket of chicken, Dan doesn’t bother making anything complicated. 

“Did you get them—?”

“From the place you like on Queen Street,” Dan finishes. 

“You’re the best,” Stacey flings herself at him, giving him a hug.

They get some much-needed catch-up time, before the doorbell rings again. Dan even gets to show her some footage, and she does agree that everyone is amazing.

The fourth time the doorbell rings, it’s Noah, and then Dan’s in his arms, Noah’s lips against his neck so briefly Dan thinks he might have imagined it. 

**

A few hours later, all of the food and most of the prosecco is gone, and Noah is sitting next to Dan on the couch. Stacey’s regaling them with some LA adventure and Noah keeps interrupting to point out that kind of thing doesn’t happen in Canada, just to fluster her.

“Bet you regret inviting him now,” Dan teases.

Stacey shoots him a pointed look before grabbing her phone. Twenty seconds later, Dan’s phone vibrates.  _ I invited him for you. _

Dan shoves the phone back in his pocket and stands up. “Anyone need a drink?”

A chorus of yeses echo through his living room and Dan huffs out a breath of relief. That should keep him busy enough to  _ not  _ think about Noah, not think about Stacey seeing what he’s been trying to hide from himself. 

Noah jumps up. “I can help you with that.”

Dan feels Stacey’s eyes on him, feels the judgmental vibration of his phone in his pocket. He resolutely ignores both in favor of Noah’s warm gaze. “Thanks.” It comes out a little softer than he meant, but Noah’s eyes are crinkled and the corners of his mouth are slightly downturned in a pleased way that Dan wants to press a thousand kisses against, until Noah’s eyes are closed and his lips are parted. 

It feels like they stand there for a beat too long, eyes locked—and looking into Noah’s eyes is like being on a boat 500 meters from the shore and still being able to see straight down to the ocean floor. Dan wants to stand here forever, Noah’s attention flowing into him, quietly but with an indeterminate strength. 

Dan spins around and heads to the kitchen, before he does something stupid. Noah must catch up, because his fingers brush ever so lightly against the small of Dan’s back. Dan shortens his stride a little and Noah keeps his fingers there for the last two steps into the kitchen.

“So what’s the plan?”

“A pitcher of mimosas and a silent prayer people don’t want more after this because  _ that _ ,” Dan points to the bottle of prosecco Noah just picked up, “is the last bottle.”

Dan grabs the pitcher and the last of the juice, and definitely doesn’t notice the way Noah’s hands grip the bottle, fingers wrapped firmly around the neck as he expertly twists the cork until it pops festively, without making a mess at all.

Noah turns to throw out the cork, and Dan sees the tag on his t-shirt is sticking out. When Noah’s facing him again, Dan steps forward and reaches an arm around Noah’s neck. In the split second before his fingers reach the tag, Noah’s eyes flick down to Dan’s mouth and— _ oh.  _

_ Oh. _

Dan’s fingertips lightly skim the warm skin at the back of Noah’s neck, and Noah’s watching him so carefully. He rests his hand on Dan’s hip and Dan gently smooths the tag, safe and secure, back in Noah’s t-shirt.

The moment stretches out and it feels like an endless horizon line, until a sharp ring of laughter from the other room dissolves it. 

Noah huffs out a small laugh and looks down at the prosecco bottle between them. “Guess we better…”

“Yeah. Guess we better,” Dan whispers, as he smooths his hand across Noah’s back one more time before removing it all together. 

Dan nudges the pitcher over to Noah and wonders what the fuck that just was.

“I have beer in the fridge if you’re tired of breakfast drinks,” Dan offers, and is rewarded with a wide happy smile. 

“Yeah, that’d be nice.” When Noah sees that it’s the beer he always orders at wrap parties, his face does…  _ something _ . Something that Dan hopes is good.

**

The pitcher of mimosas is long gone, followed by a bottle and a half of red wine, and most of the party. It’s down to just Stacey, Salva, and Noah. 

“Heard Dan made everyone but himself put on  _ Cabaret  _ for the last episode of the season,” Stacey says.

“He did, indeed.” Noah shakes his head fondly. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Did Emily tell you I showed up to our first rehearsal in jeans? I should have known Dan wasn’t going to let us half-ass it.”

“It looks really good though—do you want to see some footage?” Dan isn’t going to try to defend himself, he already had to perform with Catherine and he had to dance around  _ alone _ in a leather sweater. Plus, there was no way he could write and learn a huge choreographed number.

“I do—let me just grab a beer.” Noah starts to stand and then pauses. “If you don’t mind?”

“Yeah, no, of course, help yourself.”

“Do you want more wine?” Noah offers as he walks to the kitchen, and Dan says yes and then busies himself with draining his glass so he doesn’t stare at Noah’s ass in front of Stacey. Watching Noah move comfortably around his space feels nice. Dan knows he’s going to have a lengthy spiral imagining what it would be like to be here with Noah more often, Noah getting them drinks and cuddling on the sofa. Dan thinks he’d even watch an entire baseball game if it meant three hours curled up next to Noah. 

When Noah comes back, he tops off Dan’s wine and then sits down next to him. Very close, so close their thighs are fully pressed together. Noah gives him a little nudge with his shoulder and then leans in close to see Dan’s phone. “Let’s see the clip.” Dan finds the longest one and plays it on his phone, feeling Noah’s breath on his neck, and trying not to think about it. When it’s over, Noah moves away, but widens his legs so his knee is still touching Dan’s.

“Wow. We—look like we know what we’re doing,” Noah says, sounding dazed.

“You  _ do _ know what you’re doing. You were incredible.” Dan means it, he can’t believe how hard everyone worked to make this happen for his show. It means so much to him, how invested everyone is in this, in  _ him _ .

Noah smiles at him, and Dan feels dizzy with Noah’s full attention on him. “Do you want Chinese food?” he blurts out, suddenly desperate to have Noah stay here with him as long as possible.

“Sure, I could eat,” Noah agrees easily, as if Dan randomly offering take-out makes perfect sense.

“Stace, we can order from the place—” Dan turns and Stacey is standing up.

“Can’t me and Salva are going to meet Claudia for dinner.” Stacey grabs Salva’’s hand and pulls them up off the couch.

“Yes, sorry.” Salva throws back the rest of his wine.

“Enjoy your egg rolls,” she says. There’s a flurry of goodbyes and hugs and before Dan can even protest, it’s just him and Noah left. Alone.

“I can—you don’t have to order Chinese just for  _ me _ .” When they sit back down, Noah’s legs are spread wide so his knee is lightly resting against Dan’s again and he looks somehow both amused and slightly worried.

“No, it’s—stay. It’ll give me an excuse to order too much food.” Dan smiles and shrugs, it’s a pretty weak excuse, but he  _ really  _ doesn't want Noah to leave. 

“Okay, Dan.” Noah gives his knee a little squeeze. “At least let me help you clean up a little.”

Dan nods, and takes a sip of wine to keep himself from smiling too much. Noah wiggles back closer to Dan, leaning against his side. “Let’s order, then clean up, so then we can relax,” Noah says.

Dan pulls his phone out, and they order too much food, dumplings and lo mein and pork fried rice, egg rolls for Dan and wonton soup for Noah and sesame chicken and beef and broccoli to share. They both laugh when Noah adds an order of crab rangoons at the last second, they’ll never eat all this food.

Noah drops his head onto Dan’s shoulder and rests a hand on Dan’s thigh as he watches as Dan adds the tip and confirms the order. Dan can smell Noah’s shampoo, it has some woodsy citrusy sort of smell that combines with the weight of Noah against him to create a bubble that Dan doesn’t ever want to leave. 

Noah gently takes Dan’s phone from him, his fingers warm and so soft where they’re not callused. “Can I?” Noah murmurs into Dan’s chest, and Dan manages to whisper  _ yes.  _ Letting other people use his phone always sparks a small panic, like it's a window into his soul, which is ridiculous but probably a little true. Noah just changes the music to something a little slower, the kind of song that makes Dan think about swaying and kissing—about what would happen if he kissed Noah  _ right now _ .

Instead, Noah stands up and holds out a hand for Dan. He lets Noah pull him up, unsure what’s about to happen. Is Noah going to dance with him, in his living room, while they wait for dinner?

“Okay. Let’s clean up.” Noah drags Dan to the kitchen and Dan wants to laugh until he cries for getting it so wrong. 

“Actually,” Noah starts and then trails off, pulling him in close, getting his hands on Dan's hips. Maybe Dan  _ didn't  _ get it wrong. Dan wraps his arms around Noah’s neck. Noah’s looking at him full of wonder and warmth. “I love this song,” Noah whispers. Dan hums in agreement and gives in to the moment, letting Noah lead him around the kitchen swaying them slowly through the small space, his hands firm and sure on Dan, like they belong there. 

The song ends, changes over to something a little more upbeat and Noah shrugs. He kisses Dan’s cheek. “I’ll wash. You dry.” Noah walks over to the sink and Dan just stands there for a second. The number of perfect moments today with Noah keep stacking up, and Dan can’t help but be afraid he’s going to topple the whole thing over.

They do the dishes in relative silence, sometimes Noah sings along to whatever’s playing as he fastidiously washes more champagne flutes than Dan thought he owned. 

Noah finishes the dishes and moves to wipe down the counter. Dan wants to stop him, tell him to sit down, have a beer. But Dan also knows he won’t be able to relax if he’s thinking about tiny crumbs all over his counter. He’ll need to jump up the minute they’re done eating to finish tidying up. 

So instead, he keeps drying and putting away glass after glass. “Thanks,” Dan finally manages to whisper and Noah looks at him, really looks at him, like he  _ knows _ just how much getting this cleaned up means, like he knows Dan.

“Anytime, Daniel.” His smile is small and hopeful and Dan is about to lean in and knock over whatever this is that they’ve been building today, when the doorbell chimes. 

Dan jumps back, and for a split second he’s worried it’s Stacey and Salva, but then he remembers they ordered food.

Noah must catch a glimpse of something—Dan hopes it’s confusion and not panic—because his smile goes amused and fond. “Dinner is served.” Noah reaches out and gives his shoulder a squeeze and Dan smirks back, pausing for a moment before going to open the door. 

When he returns with the food, Noah’s already got plates and silverware out for them, so Dan starts unpacking their order. There’s eight fortune cookies and six plastic forks, and Dan laughs at the presumed number of people who should be enjoying this order. He holds a fistful of cookies in one hand and six forks in the other, like a deranged Statue of Liberty, and Noah laughs too. 

Noah grabs Dan’s hand and pulls him around the counter, pulling out his stool for him. Dan is charmed,  _ so _ charmed, by Noah’s  _ Noah-ness _ , the way he makes things easy and comfortable and thoughtful and too much and just right. They make plates with too much food, but it barely make a dent in the order. Dan’s relieved he’s next to Noah and not across from him, half because there is no alluring way to eat dumplings and half because the way Noah’s been looking at him today has been very distracting—and Dan’s very hungry.

Dan takes a bite of the egg roll and it’s perfect and still a little crispy and the right amount of greasy. He makes a noise, the noise Philippe, the cameraman on GCBS, used to call his sexy croissant noise. Then he’d make a joke about being sure they edit out Dan’s pastry porn noises. 

He feels Noah’s eyes on him and tries to rein it in, but it’s too late. “I take it that's very good?” Noah asks.

“It is.” Dan swallows and holds it out to Noah, “want a bite?” Dan doesn’t really like sharing food (or germs) with dinner companions, but clearly forgot this basic fact about himself. He assumes Noah will take the egg roll from him and instead Noah leans over and takes a bite. Dan can’t stop staring at Noah’s lips wrapping around it, biting into it, scattering a few crispy flakes onto Dan’s fingers. He can’t stop staring when Noah closes his eyes and makes a small pleased sound. Noah shifts back, sitting up straight. 

“That’s excellent. Thanks for letting me have a bite.” Noah says with a small smirk.

“No big deal.” Dan shrugs, like it’s not a big deal, like Noah hasn’t seen him swat Sarah’s hand away from his fries, or abandon a butter tart Emily took a bite of. 

Noah just smiles, downturned but pleased and teasing, his eyes crinkling. “Do you want to try the soup?”

Dan opens his mouth to say no and then blurts out yes. Noah gets a bite of wonton onto the spoon, his hand wobbling slightly before holding the spoon steady, carefully feeding him a bite. Dan has to close his eyes for a second and when he opens them again, it’s all too much, Noah’s gaze locked on his mouth. The wonton is actually pretty good, but Dan’s fairly certain he’s biased by the spoon holder.

“The soup is nice, but the egg roll is better.” Dan punctuates this with another bite of his egg roll and Noah somehow fits a whole wonton into his mouth in response. Dan’s eyes go wide as he tries not to laugh with a mouthful of egg roll and Noah’s eyes go wide with what Dan assumes is regret. 

“You all right over there?” Dan can’t help but tease after he swallows his normal sized bite of food. Eventually Noah also manages to finish his bite and looks over at Dan. “I’m definitely all right.” He says it so seriously, so sincerely, that Dan knows he’s not talking about the soup. 

Noah sets his spoon down, and then he’s cupping Dan’s face in both hands pulling him forward. Dan is still holding his egg roll and then Noah’s kissing him, his lips warm from the soup and a little salty, all teasing and light against Dan’s lips. 

Dan considers dropping the egg roll and just pulling Noah into bed, but then Noah pulls back. “Sorry, just—I couldn’t wait anymore.” He looks a little pinker than usual and maybe a little embarrassed. Dan leans forward and kisses him, so, so softly, and whispers, “Don’t be sorry,” against Noah’s mouth. He can feel the faintest scrape of Noah’s stubble when Noah smiles. Dan sits back, wants to  _ see _ that smile. It’s full and open and he looks so happy—kissing  _ Dan _ did that, made Noah look that way. 

“After.” Noah picks up his spoon.

“After.” Dan nods and takes a bite of the egg roll, still miraculously in his hand.

Dan relaxes, knowing this is happening, that they’re on the same page, that nothing is going to topple over. They are just going to stack up more, different kinds of moments together. 

He happily accepts kisses and bites of sesame chicken from Noah until he’s going to burst from happiness. 

Noah hands Dan a fortune cookie. 

"Stop searching forever, happiness is just next to you," Dan reads, his voice getting a little high at the end. 

Noah takes the fortune and the cookie out of Dan’s hand and sets it carefully on the counter. He stands up and then he’s kissing Dan again, except it’s different this time, there’s no teasing, just promise after promise pressed into Dan’s mouth. Dan runs his hands up Noah’s back, hooks his ankles around Noah’s legs, trying to pull him in, to promise back.

When they pull apart this time, Noah’s flushed and Dan’s breathless. “We’ll have to frame this—David and Patrick get the receipt, but we get this.” Then Noah kisses him again, proving just how right he is—they do get this.


End file.
